A Match, A Memory
by Aspen-SiredBySpike
Summary: With every match she lit, another memory from her past was shown to her. It became an addiction. She couldn't stop striking up the ethereal recollections. AliceCentric.


**A/N: Just another oneshot that I used as a chapter in my fic "Every Turn Of The Page". AliceCentric. Read and review? Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters.**

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**A Match, A Memory**

Striking a match, she smiled as the warm orange glow form the flame filled the room.

Around her floated the vision of when they first met:

_He looked so perfect with his masterly groomed blonde hair and his deep crimson eyes. She could faintly see the crescent scars that marred his milky skin. Gorgeous. That was the only way to describe him. She had seen him coming, and he was finally here. Better than she had imagined, was her mate in the flesh._

"_You kept me waiting." _

She heard her own voice echo out around her.

"_Sorry about that."_

_He smiled gently, holding his hand out to her. Reaching out, she took it happily…_

The vision faded as the flame flickered out. Dropping the burnt out match into the bowl of water she had placed on the floor below her, she struck up another, wishing desperately that this memory would be as sweet as the last.

As the golden glow of the flame bathed her is serenity, she smiled as visions of her and Edward filled the air.

_His eyes shone with triumph as he threw his arms up in the air, laughing joyously._

"_You cheated." She teased, sticking out her tongue._

"_Oh yeah?" He asked, his eyes dancing with mirth. _

_Before she could reply, he picked threw her gently over his shoulder, spinning her around freely. She joined in his infectious laughter, reveling in the light autumn breeze that whipped past her face._

_She tumbled to the ground, suddenly, her brother's lean form landing nearby. Picking up the football a few inches away, he held it close, stroking it as if it were a cat. He sent her one last charming smile-_

The vision dissolved, once again leaving her in a pool of darkness.

Now she was addicted. A soft splash echoed throughout the room as the match hit the water. She wasted no time in lighting another one:

_She was like the little sister she never had. Sure, Rosalie had always been there for her, but at the best of times, the blonde was slightly snaky and always perched on an imaginary throne. _

_In Bella, she had found a younger sister, a best friend. Someone she could help in her times of need and get a bit of human enjoyment that she had been denied in life._

_Sweeping the brush through her long hair, she smiled at the girl's reflection in the mirror. Bella was an angel, even if she didn't believe it. Getting her ready for prom had been so much fun, even if she didn't know where she was going yet. _

_She didn't want the moment to end, but she knew that if they didn't get downstairs soon, Edward would come looking for them, probably resulting in reprimanding her for making them late._

_She knew that she was only human, but if her visions were right, in the future, she would one of them - a true sister._

_Bella's brown eyes glittered as she folded her arms over her chest, annoyed. _

That was the last thing she saw before the sight of her and her friend dissipated into nothing.

Joy. She was flooded with the feeling. Happiness, she reveled in it while it lasted.

With a flick of her tiny wrist, the darkness was put at bay to let way for another past occurrence.

_She was screaming. Sharp jolts of pain ran through her arms as their hands squeezed tighter - pulled harder. Roughly, she was forced into a hard chair. They restrained her arms and legs. Her long dark hair began to fall all around her, causing her tears to come faster. _

_Two blurred figures stood before her, their faces obviously sad, but unidentifiable. She felt like an animal on display. A freak show. _

_The figures made no move to help her as she was yanked out of the chair and down a long hallway. She was tossed carelessly into a darkened room with no windows, no adornments. The door was slammed shut behind her. The lock was pulled._

_Darkness._

Both in the memory and reality, everything went black.

The asylum wasn't something she had wanted to remember. Her nightmares had run rampant for years after that incident, and she had no desire to have them return after so long.

As she picked up another match, another memory, she was hesitant in lighting it. What if it only brought back more terrors?

She had decided that it was a risk she was willing to take. After all, so far it had been three good recollections to one bad one. Fate was on her side.

The now familiar light shone out as she stared into the fire…

_She had never felt more alone. He was gone. Her brother, her confidant, her friend, had left her. No amount of sweet caresses or gentle words from Jasper could heal the pain that her heart was currently feeling._

_Without a word to any of them, he had up and left. For days, she had been trying to get a vision of him, the tiniest notion of where he was headed or what he was doing, but so far she had gotten nothing._

_His love was dead, and with that knowledge, his soul died with it._

_He was gone, and she felt that it was her fault for not foreseeing Bella's jump. For not being able to save her. For not getting to Edward in time to make him stay._

_She laid her head on Jasper's chest and let a river of invisible tears pour out of her. _

_He was gone, and all she could do was hide her face._

She let the wooden stub fall out of her fingers; the tiny splash of it hitting the water sounded like a million sorrowful screams to her ultra sensitive ears.

She let her golden eyes flash down to the box sitting in her lap. One match. That was all she had left.

Picking it up, she spun it slowly between her fingers. She had a fifty - fifty chance for a good or a bad memory. The odds were now more balanced. Two bad to three good.

Striking up her final shot at solace, she tossed the match box aside and lost herself one final time in a world of enchantment.

_She finally had a father. He welcomed them warmly, with no questions, no suspicions. She had quickly become his daughter, and Jasper, his son. They were immediately accepted as a part of the family._

_In their quick move, she had gained a loving mother who had no other desire but to give her children the world. Esme had taken to her immediately, acting as if she belonged with them, claiming that she was no less important in her heart than any of her other family members. _

_She had gotten a big sister: though narcissistic and most of the time pig-head, Rosalie had proved to be nothing but faithful to every member of her family, even her._

_As well, she had gotten two of the best brothers in the world. Emmett may have been big, but his size only matched that of his heart. He was the perfect friend and became very protective of her; but she wouldn't have it any other way._

_Then there was Edward. Being there the longest, she expected him to be the least accepting of her. In his presence, she had, at first, felt like nothing more than an intruder in his life. However, over time he had turned out to be the best sibling of them all. He was protective, caring, gentle, and loving. She could never have asked for a better brother._

_With a grin, and a flip of his blonde hair, Carlisle had welcomed them into his home. It was that same smile that she had looked forward to seeing everyday when she walked into his study or joined him on a hunting trip._

_Opening his arms, she stepping into them, wrapping her miniature arms around his neck._

"_Thank you." She said, meaning it more than any other proclamation said before it. "Thank you with all my heart. You have no idea how much this means to me. To us." She looked around him to smile at Jasper._

"_I think I know." He replied, pulling her tiny body tightly to him._

The feeling of her father's arms around her gradually faded with the flame. Dropping the match stub to the water, Alice smiled and laid back on her bed. Hugging her pillow tightly, she stared through the darkness at the canopy above her.

Sighing, she closed her eyes, attempting to drift into an impossible sleep.

Letting daydreams cloud her vision, she whispered out into the surrounding blackness, "A match, a memory. Good or bad, it's a fair trade."


End file.
